The mystic significance of the Guf is that each
person is important and has a unique role which only he, with his
unique soul, can fulfill. Even a newborn baby brings the Messiah
closer simply by being born.

In keeping with other Jewish legends that
envision souls as bird-like, the Guf is sometimes described as a
columbarium, or
birdhouse. Folklore says
sparrows can see the
soul's descent and this explains their joyous chirping.

The peculiar idiom of describing the treasury of
souls as a "body" may be connected to the mythic tradition of
Adam
Kadmon, the primordial man. Adam Kadmon, God's "original
intention" for humanity, was a supernal being, androgynous and macro-cosmic
(co-equal in size with the universe). When this Adam sinned,
humanity was demoted to the flesh and blood, bifurcated and mortal
creatures we are now. According to Kabbalah, every human soul is
just a fragment (or fragments) cycling out of the great
"world-soul" of Adam Kadmon. Hence, every human soul comes from the
"guf [of Adam Kadmon]."